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You're so lucky. There will no longer be the essay section. And the vocabulary will be easier. This is all a part of their effort to close the education gap. How is lowering standards, in this case, going to help anyone?

@PolyglotGal‌ - There will be an essay section but it will be optiona, IF your schools of choice do not require it (and many of them might, particularly more selective ones). I agree with you about it not doing anything to close the education gap though.

I was thinking of starting a thread where we discuss best strategy for current 9th graders and current 8th graders. But I just don't think we have enough info yet to be making a plan. I'll want to see actual sample tests. And I'll want to hear from colleges about what they will be requiring. For example, I would expect that colleges will accept scores of either format for the class of 2017 -- but we don't know that for certain. And for 2018, same thing. I would not be shocked if colleges say they want new-format scores only from the class of 2018. But that is just speculation at this point. For now, I still council calmness, hard work in school and lots of reading. We'll know more in time...

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